Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos!
Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is
featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2014 August 22
Comet Jacques, Heart and Soul
Image Credit &
Copyright:
Dominique Dierick
Explanation:
On July 13th, a good place to watch
Comet
Jacques was from Venus.
Then, the recently discovered visitor (C/2014 E2) to the
inner solar system
passed within about 14.5 million kilometers
of our sister planet.
Still, the outbound comet will pass only 84 million kilometers
from our fair planet on August 28 and is
already
a fine target for telescopes and binoculars.
Two days ago, Jacques' greenish coma and straight and narrow ion tail
were captured in this telescopic snapshot, a single 2 minute long
exposure with a modified digital camera.
The comet is flanked by IC 1805 and IC 1848, also known as Cassiopeia's
Heart and Soul Nebulae.
If you're stuck on planet Earth this weekend you can
hunt for Comet Jacques
in evening skies, or spot a Venus, Jupiter, crescent Moon triangle
before the dawn.
Tomorrow's picture: the spectre of Veszprem
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Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(
MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell (
UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman
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